Universal system for mounting rack doors

ABSTRACT

A mount for mounting a door to rack includes a rack including a first pair of vertically-extending supports, each support including an array of openings; a first mount coupled to the rack at a first position thereon, the first mount including: a first plate extending between the first pair of vertically-extending supports and including a first end and a second end, and a first hinge arm adjustably coupled with the first plate; a second mount coupled to the rack at a second position located below the first position, the second mount including: a second plate extending between the first pair of vertically-extending supports and including a first end and a second end, and a second hinge arm adjustably coupled with the second plate.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a Divisional application of U.S. patent applicationSer. No. 13/909,393, filed on Jun. 4, 2013, the contents of which areincorporated herein by reference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates in general to racks for mounting computercomponents, and in particular, to a universal system for mounting one ormore doors to the racks.

2. Description of the Related Art

Servers are typically made up of electronic components that includeprocessors and their associated electronics (e.g., memory, disk drives,power supplies, etc.) packaged in removable node configurations. Toprevent damage during delivery from a manufacturer to a customer, theelectronic components are stacked and/or mounted within an electronics(or IT) rack or frame, either in drawers in the rack or frame or atfixed locations thereon. After delivery in some instances, a customermay prefer to remove the electronic components from themanufacturer-provided rack and to mount the components ontoalready-existing IT racks at the customer site.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

During operation, some combinations of electronic components and ITracks can exhibit unwanted side effects, such as generating excessivenoise or heat, and/or failing to contain an electromagnetic interference(EMI). Hence, a manufacturer may provide a cabinet for the rack, whichmay include a specially-designed door to reduce potential noise, heat,and/or EMI, and/or may include a system level status indicator.Typically, however, after the components are removed from the rack, thecabinet and rack are discarded.

Because IT racks are available through many different equipmentproviders and can have a variety of different configurations (forexample, some IT racks are disposed in cabinets and positioned atvarious depths therein, and other IT racks have varying heights orinclude additional features that change one or more overall dimensionsof the rack), simply transferring the manufacturer-provided doors toanother cabinet or to another rack has not been possible in the past. Toprovide an option to the customer to recover at least some of themanufacturer-designed features of the cabinet, a universal door mountingsystem is now being provided. The mounting system allows the doors ofthe cabinet to be coupled to any IT rack.

In an embodiment, by way of example only, a door mounting systemincludes a rack, a first mount and a second mount. The rack includes afirst pair of vertically-extending supports, each support including anarray of openings. The first mount is coupled to the rack at a firstposition thereon and has a first plate and a first hinge arm. The firstplate extends between the first pair of vertically-extending supportsand including a first end and a second end, each of the first end andthe second end including fastener openings aligned with correspondingopenings of the array of openings of a corresponding support of thefirst pair of vertically-extending supports. The first hinge arm isadjustably coupled with the first plate and extends at an angle from afirst side of the plate adjacent to the first end, the first hinge armincluding a first door pin receptacle to receive a first door pintherethrough for coupling the door to the rack via the first plate. Thesecond mount is coupled to the rack at a second position located belowthe first position and includes a second plate and a second hinge arm.The second plate extends between the first pair of vertically-extendingsupports and includes a first end and a second end, each of the firstend and the second end including fastener openings aligned withcorresponding openings of the array of openings of a correspondingsupport of the first pair of vertically-extending supports. The secondhinge arm is adjustably coupled with the second plate and extends at anangle from the first side of the second plate adjacent to the first endthereof, the second hinge arm including a second door pin receptacle toreceive a second door pin therethrough for coupling the door to the rackvia the second plate.

In still another embodiment, by way of example only, a method ofmounting a door to a rack is provided. The method includes fasteningopposite ends of a mount to corresponding vertically-extending supportsof a pair of spaced apart vertically-extending supports of the rack,adjusting a distance of a hinge arm relative to a first side of theplate, coupling the hinge arm to the plate such that the hinge armextends at an angle from the first side of the plate adjacent to thefirst end, the hinge arm including a door pin receptacle, and insertinga door pin into the door pin receptacle and into a correspondingengagement mechanism coupled to the door to thereby couple the door tothe rack via the plate.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

In order that the advantages of the invention will be readilyunderstood, a more particular description of the invention brieflydescribed above will be rendered by reference to specific embodimentsthat are illustrated in the appended drawings. Understanding that thesedrawings depict only typical embodiments of the invention and are nottherefore to be considered to be limiting of its scope, the inventionwill be described and explained with additional specificity and detailthrough the use of the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a front, perspective view illustration of a cabinet includinga door mounting system mounting a door to a rack;

FIG. 2 is a close-up view of a portion of the cabinet and the doormounting system mounting the door depicted in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a close-up view of a portion of the cabinet depicted in FIG. 1with the door removed;

FIG. 4 is a close-up view of a hinge arm of the door mounting systemmounted in the cabinet depicted in FIG. 1 with the door removed;

FIG. 5 is a rear, close-up view of the door mounting system and a doormounted thereto;

FIG. 6 is a close-up view of a hinge arm of the door mounting systemmounted in the cabinet depicted in FIG. 1;

FIG. 7 is a close-up view of a latch arm of the door mounting systemmounted in the cabinet depicted in FIG. 1;

FIG. 8 is a close-up view of a latch arm mounted in the cabinet asdepicted in FIG. 7 including a latching rod component;

FIG. 9 is a front view of a portion of a cabinet including three plateconfigurations of the mount;

FIG. 10 is a front view of an asymmetric configuration of the doormounting system attached to a rack;

FIG. 11 is a front view of a symmetric configuration of the doormounting system attached to a rack;

FIG. 12 is a front view of a split door configuration of the doormounting system attached to a rack; and

FIG. 13 is a flow diagram of a method of installing a door mountingsystem to a rack.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The illustrated embodiments below provide a door mounting solution thateasily attaches to an electronic component rack, despite configurationvariations of such racks between manufacturers. The mounting solutionincludes a plate configured to extend at least the Electronic IndustryAssociation (EIA) standard distance between vertical supports making upa rack. Standard EIA mounting holes in the vertical supports are usedfor coupling the plate to the rack. To mount the door to the plate, ahinge arm extends from a front face of the plate at an angle away from acenter of the plate. A depth of the hinge arm relative to the rack isadjustable to custom fit the door onto the rack. A latch arm extendsfrom the front face of the plate either from an end of the plate that isopposite from the end including the hinge arm or substantially at thecenter of the plate. Similar to the hinge arm, the depth of the latcharm is adjustable relative to the plate. The door mounting system caninclude a top mount and a bottom mount. One or both of the top and/orbottom mounts includes a telescoping mechanism extending rearwardly andattaching to a rear vertical support to provide additional structure forattaching the door to the rack.

FIG. 1 is a front, perspective view illustration of a cabinet 100including a door mounting system 102 mounting a door 104 to a rack 106,according to an embodiment. The cabinet 100 is configured to contain oneor more computing components (not shown), such as a server or otherhardware component typically employed for the operation of a computersystem. The cabinet 100 has a cabinet frame 108 configured to surroundthe rack 106 and includes outer vertical posts 110, a top wall 112, abottom platform 114, and side walls 116.

With additional reference to FIGS. 2-4, the rack 106 is generally madeup of a front pair of vertically-extending supports 118 and 120, a frontpair of ear rails 122 and 124, a rear pair of vertical-extendingsupports (one support 126 of which is shown in FIG. 4), and a rear pairof ear rails (one ear rail 128 of which is shown in FIG. 4). Thevertically-extending supports 118, 120, and 126 are located just insideof the vertical posts 110 of the cabinet 100. In an embodiment, thefront pair of ear rails 122 and 124 extends alongside a correspondingone of the front pair of vertically-extending supports 118 and 120.Similarly, each ear rail of the rear pair of ear rails 128 extendsalongside a corresponding one of the rear vertically-extending supports126.

As depicted, each ear rail 122, 124, 128 includes an array of openings130 that can be used for securing the door 104 and/or computingcomponents to the rack 106. Desirably, the front pair of ear rails 122and 124, and likewise, the rear pair of ear rails 128, are located apredetermined distance from each other so that corresponding openings130 on each ear rail of the front pair of ear rails 122 and 124 complywith configuration standards set forth by the EIA. For example, thefront ear rails 122 and 124 are set a distance apart so thatcorresponding openings 130 are about 17.7-inches apart. The openings 130on the rear pair of ear rails 122 and 124 are desirably located the samepredetermined distance apart as well.

The door 104 is coupled to the cabinet 100 over a front opening 132thereof so that, when closed, the computing components are concealedwithin the cabinet 100. The door 104 includes an outer frame section 134surrounding a main body 136. In an embodiment, the outer frame section134 of the door 104 is configured to extend along the outer edge of thecabinet 100 and surrounds the main body 136. The outer frame section 134has a width that is substantially equal to or slightly greater than adistance between the vertically-extending supports 118 and 120 and aheight that is substantially equal to or slightly greater than adistance between the top wall 112 and bottom platform 114 of the cabinet100. In another embodiment, the outer frame section 134 has dimensionsthat match the front of the cabinet 100.

To improve cooling of the computing components, the main body 136 of thedoor 104 includes open spaces to allow airflow into the cabinet 100. Forexample, as illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2, fixed or adjustable louvers138 extend between vertical sides of the outer frame section 134. Thelouvers 138 are sufficiently spaced apart to allow cool air into thecabinet 100, in an embodiment. Alternatively, each louver 138 is tiltedat an angle relative to a front edge of the outer frame section 134forming slits between adjacent louvers 138. The tilt angle of one ormore the louvers 138 is adjusted by sliding a front edge of the louvers138 in a vertical direction, in an embodiment. In another embodiment, aside actuating mechanism (not shown) is used to adjust the tilt angle ofone or more of the louvers 138. In another embodiment as shown in FIG.5, the main body 136 is made up of a rectangular front frame 140 with amesh or perforated material providing airflow into the cabinet 100.Alternatively, the door 104 partially covers the front opening 132 sothat cool air enters the cabinet 100 through an uncovered portion.

With continued reference to FIGS. 1, 4, and 5, the door 104 includes adoor attachment component 144 and a latching rod component 146. The doorattachment component 144 extends along and is mounted to a vertical edge148 of the outer frame section 134 and includes a vertically extendingpole 150 and door pins 152 inserted into openings formed on both ends ofthe pole 150. One or both of the door pins 152 includes a spring biasedto an expanded position, either disposed on a shaft of the door pin 152and disposed within the pole 150 or disposed between the end of the pin152 and a stop (not shown) disposed within the pole 150. The latchingrod component 146 extends between top and bottom guide mechanisms 154that guide the latching rod component 146 along the other vertical edge156 of the door 104 for receipt by the door mounting system 102. In anembodiment, the latching rod component 146 is coupled to an actuatingmechanism (not shown) formed on or attached to the door 104, such ashandle (not shown) attached to an exterior face of the door 104, toallow the customer to move the latching rod component 146 verticallybetween latch and unlatch positions.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 4, the door mounting system 102 includes a topmount 160 and a bottom mount 162 that are configured to be mirror imagesof each other. With additional reference to FIGS. 2-5, the top mount 160is coupled to a top portion of the rack 106, for example at the top-most1U spaces of the rack 106, and is made up of a mount plate 164, a hingearm 166, and a latch arm 168. The mount plate 164 has a substantiallyrectangular front wall 170, top and bottom walls 172 and 174 extendingrearwardly from the top and bottom edges of the front wall 170, andangled sidewalls 176 and 178 including first and second end flanges 180and 182 extending from the sidewalls 176 and 178, respectively. Thewalls 170, 172, 174, 176, and 178 form a rear open cavity 184. The firstend flange 180 includes mount holes or mount openings 186 configured toalign with corresponding openings 130 on the left vertically-extendingsupport 118 and to receive fasteners 188, such as bolts or screws,therethrough for attaching the first end flange 180 to the leftvertically-extending support 118. The second end flange 182 attaches tothe right vertically-extending support 120 and has mount holes 190 toalign with corresponding openings 130 of the support 120 to receivefasteners 192, such as bolts or screws, therethrough.

The top mount 160 also includes a hinge arm support member 194 and alatch arm support member 196 formed thereon. The hinge arm supportmember 194 has walls 198 extending from the front wall 170 and side wall176 substantially perpendicularly to the front wall 170 with a top edgedefining a top opening 200 for receiving an end of the hinge arm 166. Toprovide sufficient support to the hinge arm 166 when coupled to themount plate 164, the top opening 200 has a cross-section configurationthat matches and is slightly larger than an outer diameter configurationof the inserted portion of the hinge arm 166 to provide a snug fittherewith. An adjustable spring loaded pin 202 extends through the wall198 of the hinge arm support member 194 to secure the hinge arm 166 tothe hinge arm support member 194. An end of the pin 202 is disposedbehind the wall 198. The spring is secured between the end of the pin202 and a rear surface of the wall 198.

The latch arm support member 196 includes walls 204 extending from thefront wall 170 and side wall 178 substantially perpendicularly to thefront wall 170 having a top edge defining a top opening 206 into whichthe latch arm 168 is inserted. The top opening 206 has a cross-sectionalconfiguration that matches and is slightly larger than an outer diameterof the inserted portion of the latch arm 168 to provide a snug fittherewith. An adjustable spring loaded pin 208 operating similarly topin 202 is included through the wall 204 of the latch arm support member196.

Referring additionally to FIG. 6, the hinge arm 166 is adjustablycoupled to the mount plate 164 via the hinge arm support member 194 andhence is located adjacent to the first end flange 180. The hinge arm 166includes a plate coupling portion or adjustment section 212 and a doorsupport portion or a support section 214 extending therefrom. Tocompensate for the variability of distances from rack to rack of thefront posts 110 of the cabinet 100 to the front supports 118 and 120(for example, distance 216), the hinge arm 166 is configured to coupleto the mount plate 164 such that a distance 219 from a furthest edge ofthe plate coupling portion 212 to the front wall 170 of the mount plate164 can be adjusted to a length substantially equal or slightly greaterthan distance 216. In this regard, the plate coupling portion 212 has alength that is greater than the height of the hinge arm support walls198 and, in embodiment, thereby extends rearwardly beyond the cavity 184of the mount plate 164. The plate coupling portion 212 also includes aplurality of apertures 218 configured to align with the location of thepin 202 when the hinge arm 166 is inserted into the hinge arm supportmember 194. The apertures 218 allow the hinge arm 166 to be adjustedbetween a plurality of depths within the hinge arm support member 194.When the pin 202 is pulled partially out of one of the openings 218 ofthe hinge arm support member 194, thereby contracting the spring, thehinge arm 166 can be inserted into (if not already attached to the mountplate 164), inserted further into (if readjustment is desired), orpulled out (if removal is desired) of the cavity 184 of the supportmember 194. Specifically, after the hinge arm 166 is suitably positionedand the end of the pin 202 is within a desired adjustment aperture 218on the hinge arm 166, the pin 202 is released to cause the spring toexpand to its previously biased configuration to maintain the hinge arm166 at a desired depth within the hinge arm support member 194.

The door support portion 214 couples to the door 104 and extends at anangle from the plate coupling portion 212 and has a length suitable forallowing the door mount system 102 to retain the door 104 just outsidethe footprint of the cabinet 100. For example, the angle between theplate coupling portion 212 and door support portion 214 is selected toprovide a desired clearance between the door 104 and the cabinet 100 orrack 106 when the door 104 is mounted to the rack 106. In an embodiment,the angle between the two portions 212 and 214 is between about 30 and60 degrees, and more preferably about 45 degrees.

A free end of the door support portion 214 includes a door pinreceptacle 216 that is coupled to, for example, via welding, or formedas part of the free end of the door support portion 214. A bottomopening 220 of the door pin receptacle 216 is sufficiently sized toreceive the door pin 152 therein. In another embodiment, the door pinreceptacle 216 additionally or alternatively includes a top opening (notshown) for receiving a suitably configured door pin of the door 104.

With reference to FIGS. 1-3, 5, 7, and 8, on an opposite end of themount plate 164 from the hinge arm 166, the latch arm 168 includes aplate coupling portion 222 and a latch support portion 224. The latcharm 168 couples to the mount plate 164 such that a distance from afurthest edge of the plate coupling portion 222 to the front wall 170 ofthe mount plate 164 (e.g., distance 226) can be adjusted to a distancesubstantially equal to or slightly greater than the distance between thefront posts 110 to the front support 118 and 120 (i.e., distance 216)allowing the right side of the door 104 to lay substantially flush withthe cabinet 100 when completely closed. The plate coupling portion 222has a length greater than the height of the latch arm support walls 204allowing the latch arm 168 to extend out the cavity 184. The platecoupling portion 222 has apertures 228 configured to align with thelocation of the pin 208 on the latch arm support member 196 when thelatch arm 168 is inserted into the latch arm support member 196. Theapertures 228 provide the latch arm 168 with a plurality of depths foradjustment relative to the latch arm support member 196. Thus, when thepin 208 is pulled partially out of one of the spaced apart apertures 202of the latch arm support member 196, a spring expanded to a biasedposition disposed on the spring loaded pin 208 contracts to allow thelatch arm 168 to be repositioned within the support member 196. When thelatch arm 168 is positioned at a desired location and the end of the pin208 is placed disposed over a desired aperture 228 on the latch arm 168,the pin 208 is released to cause insertion thereof and expansion of thespring to its previously biased configuration to maintain the latch arm168 at a desired depth within the latch arm support member 196.

The latch support portion 224 is configured to maintain the door 104 inthe closed position and is angled, in an embodiment, toward a directionof a corresponding portion of the latching rod component 146 on the door104 when the door 104 is closed. In an embodiment, the angle at whichthe latch support portion 224 extends relative to the plate couplingportion 222 is, for example, between about 30 and 60 degrees, and morepreferably about 45 degrees. In another embodiment, the latch supportportion 224 extends linearly from the plate coupling portion 222. A freeend of the latch support portion 224 includes a downward-facing latchpin receptacle 230 that is coupled to, for example, via welding, orformed as part of the free end of the latch support portion 224. Abottom opening 232 of the latch pin receptacle 230 is sufficiently sizedto receive the latching rod component 146 therein.

With reference to FIG. 4, the bottom mount 162 of the door mountingsystem 102 is coupled to a bottom portion of rack 104, for example, thebottom-most 1U of the rack 106. The bottom mount 162 is configuredsubstantially similarly to the top mount 160 and has a mount plate 240,a hinge arm 242, and a latch arm (not shown), except that a door pinreceptacle 246 on the hinge arm 242 includes a top opening 248 toreceive a bottom door pin 150 therein and a latch pin receptacle (notshown) on the latch arm is upward-facing.

To provide additional structural security when a heavy door is mountedto the cabinet 100, the bottom mount 162 includes a stiffener rail 252.The stiffener rail 252 is formed from steel or another suitable materialand in an embodiment, extends from a rear of the mount plate 240 towarda rear vertically-extending support 122 of the rack 106. The stiffenerrail 252 telescopes in length and thus, can be adjusted to accommodate avariety of distances between front and rear supports 118, 120, and 122.Fasteners (not shown) are used to mount the free end of the stiffenerrail 252 to the rack 106. Although illustrated as being included on thebottom mount 162, the stiffener rail 252 additionally or alternativelyis included on the top mount 160 in other embodiments.

Portions of the door mounting system 102 can be customized to includeadditional storage or cooling features. For example, as illustrated inFIG. 9, mount plates 960 a, 960 b, 960 c can be configured for differentpurposes. In an embodiment, a mount plate 960 a is configured as a solidpiece of material and is suitable for concealing wires and cables. Inanother example, a mount plate 960 b includes an array of cooling holes962 to improve cool air circulation through the cabinet 900 duringcomputer component use. Although three rows of substantially identicallyconfigured holes are included, more or fewer holes or smaller or largerholes are used in alternate embodiments. According to another example, amount plate 960 c includes three large openings 964 through which cablesare fed.

Alternatively, the door mounting system 102 is customized to accommodatea variety of different door features. In an embodiment as shown in FIG.10, an asymmetric door mounting system 1002 is attached to a rack 1006and provides additional structure for supporting a wider door (forexample, door having a width that extends from just flush with avertical edge of a cabinet 1000 to an opposite vertical edge just insidethe cabinet 1000). In an example, door system 1002 includes a hinge arm1066 that is slightly longer than the latch arm 1068. To provide furthersupport, a door pin receptacle 1046 is configured to receive a suitablyconfigured door pin 1052, and the door pin receptacle 1046 may be largerthan a latch pin receptacle 1030.

In another embodiment shown in FIG. 11, a symmetric door mounting system1102 is attached to a rack 1106. The symmetric configuration allows thedoor mounting system 1102 to be mounted either to the top or bottom ofthe rack 1106. More specifically, the door mounting system 1102 ispositioned such that a door pin receptacle 1146 on a hinge arm 1166 hasan opening 1148 facing downwards, and a latch pin receptacle 1130 on alatch arm 1168 has an opening also facing downwards. To mount the system1102 on a bottom of the rack 1106, the system 1102 can be repositionedor another system 1102 can be mounted wherein the latch arm 1168includes the opening 1148 facing upwards to serve as the door pinreceptacle, and the hinge arm 1166 has an opening that also facesupwards to serve as a latch pin receptacle.

In still another embodiment, the doors may be provided in a split doorconfiguration as depicted in FIG. 12. In this regard, both ends of adoor mounting system 1202 include hinge arms 1266 a and 1266 b extendingin opposite directions with door pin receptacles 1246 a and 1246 b atthe ends of the hinge arms 1266 a and 1266 b. A latch pin receptacle1230 extends from a latch arm 1268 that disposed substantially inbetween the hinge arms 1266 a and 1266 b. The latch pin receptacle 1230is configured to receive latching rods of both doors (not shown).

FIG. 13 is a flow diagram of a method 1300 of mounting a door to a rack,according to an embodiment. An installer initially selects a doormounting system at 1302. Selection is based on door configuration, suchas split door or single door and/or width and/or weight of the door. Forexample, one of the door mounting system illustrated in FIGS. 10-12 isselected. The door mounting system is then mounted to a rack 106 at1304. In an embodiment, the installer begins with a bottom mount 162 andaligns the mount holes of the bottom mount 162 with correspondingopenings 130 on the front vertically-extending supports 118 and 120 ofthe rack 106. The bottom mount 162 is then attached to the rack 106 viafasteners (not shown), such as screws, bolts, or other suitable couplingmechanism. In an embodiment in which the bottom mount 162 includes astiffener rail 252, the installer adjusts a length of the rail 252 andsecures the free end of the rail 252 to the rear support 122. Next, withreference to FIG. 3 the installer installs a top mount 160 to the rack106 by aligning mount holes 186 of the top mount to correspondingopenings 130 on a top portion of the vertically-extending support 118and 120 of the rack 106. The top mount 160 is attached to the rack 106via fasteners. It will be appreciated that in other embodiments, the topmount 160 is installed prior to installation of the bottom mount 162and/or one of the mounts 160 or 162 is omitted from installation.

The hinge arms 166 and 242 and latch arms 168 and 244 of the top andbottom mounts 160 and 162 are manually adjusted to suitable depthsrelative to the rack 106 at 1306. For ease of explanation, a descriptionwill be provided in the context of the top mount 160 and it will beunderstood that the bottom mount 162 components are substantiallysimilarly adjusted. With reference to FIG. 6, the spring-loaded pin 202is pulled out to allow the hinge arm 166 to be repositioned relative tothe mount plate 164 such that distance 226 is equal to distance 216.Once properly positioned, the spring-loaded pin 202 is released tosecure the hinge arm 166 at the desired locations. Similarly, as shownin FIG. 7, the spring loaded pin 208 of the latch arm 168 is adjusted aswell.

After the door mounting system 102 is suitably mounted to the rack 106,the door 104 (or doors, in a split door configuration) is attached at1308. Specifically, with reference to FIGS. 2, 4, 5, and 8, the doorpins 152 are inserted into the top and bottom door pin receptacles 216and 246 on the mounts 160 and 162. The top door pin 152 is positionedwithin the top door pin receptacle 216, and the installer pulls thebottom door pin 152 vertically upward to compress the spring within thepole 150. The pole 150 is aligned such that the bottom door pin 152 ispositioned over the bottom door pin receptacle 246. The pin 152 is thenreleased and the spring expands to cause the pin 152 to be retained inthe door pin receptacle 246. In another embodiment, the bottom door pin152 is inserted into the bottom door pin receptacle 246 prior toinsertion of the top door pin 152 into the top door pin receptacle 216.In still another embodiment, the spring is located on the top door pin152, which is pulled vertically downward. In an embodiment in whichsplit doors are used and the mounts 160 and 162 include oppositeextending hinge arms (e.g., hinge arms 1266 a and 1266 b) each havingtop and bottom door pin receptacles 216 and 246, both doors are attachedto the mounts 160 and 162 in a substantially similar fashion aspreviously described.

After mounting, the door(s) 104 are closed at 1310. Specifically, theinstaller closes the door(s) and actuates the actuating mechanism (notshown) causing the latching rod component 146 to adjust vertically andto be repositioned within the latch pin receptacles 230 and 250.

The above-described door mounting system 100 is a versatile componentthat can be used universally on any rack or cabinet that is based on EIAstandards and spacing. The system 100 can be used to transfer a doorhaving a manufacturer-provided feature from a manufacturer-providedshipping rack to a customer site rack. For example, themanufacturer-provided door may have a heat exchange mechanism, such asthe louvers described above, a higher percentage of open space, sealingfor electromagnetic interference containment, or other features, whichthen can be installed on the customer's own rack.

Although at least one embodiment has been described above, it should beappreciated that such embodiments are only examples, and are notintended to limit the scope, applicability, or configuration of theinvention in any way. A vast number of variations exist and it should beunderstood that various changes may be made in the function andarrangement of elements described in an exemplary embodiment withoutdeparting from the scope of the invention as set forth in the appendedclaims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A door mounting system comprising: a rackincluding a first pair of vertically-extending supports, each supportincluding an array of openings; a first mount coupled to the rack at afirst position thereon, the first mount including: a first plateextending between the first pair of vertically-extending supports andincluding a first end and a second end, each of the first end and thesecond end including fastener openings aligned with correspondingopenings of the array of openings of a corresponding support of thefirst pair of vertically-extending supports; and a first hinge armadjustably coupled with the first plate and extending at an angle from afirst side of the plate adjacent to the first end, the first hinge armincluding a first door pin receptacle to receive a first door pintherethrough for coupling the door to the rack via the first plate; anda second mount coupled to the rack at a second position located belowthe first position, the second mount including: a second plate extendingbetween the first pair of vertically-extending supports and including afirst end and a second end, each of the first end and the second endincluding fastener openings aligned with corresponding openings of thearray of openings of a corresponding support of the first pair ofvertically-extending supports; and a second hinge arm adjustably coupledwith the second plate and extending at an angle from the first side ofthe second plate adjacent to the first end thereof, the second hinge armincluding a second door pin receptacle to receive a second door pintherethrough for coupling the door to the rack via the second plate. 2.The door mounting system of claim 1, wherein: the first plate includes ahinge arm support member disposed over the first side of the firstplate, the hinge arm support member includes a top opening to receive anend of the first hinge arm opposite the door pin receptacle, a springloaded pin extends through a wall of the hinge arm support member, andthe end of first hinge arm includes an array of apertures eachconfigured to receive an end of the spring loaded pin to maintain thefirst hinge arm at a desired depth within the hinge arm support memberselected from a plurality of depths for the end of the first hinge arm.3. The door mounting system of claim 2, wherein: the first hinge armincludes an adjustment section and a support section, the adjustmentsection is configured to extend substantially perpendicularly from thefirst plate, and the support section extends from the adjustment sectionat an angle away from the first end the first plate to provide aclearance between the door and the rack when the door is coupled theretovia the first mount.
 4. The door mounting system of claim 1, furthercomprising a third hinge arm adjustably coupled with the first plate andextending at an angle from the first side of the first plate adjacent tothe second end, the third hinge arm including a door pin receptacle toreceive a door pin therethrough for coupling an additional door to therack via the first plate.
 5. The door mounting system of claim 1,further comprising a latch arm adjustably coupled with the first plateand extending at an angle from the first side of the first plateadjacent to the second end, the latch arm including a latch receptacleto engage with a latch coupled to the door.
 6. The door mounting systemof claim 5, wherein: the first plate includes a latch arm support memberdisposed over the first side of the first plate, the latch arm supportmember includes a top opening to receive an end of the latch armopposite the latch receptacle, a spring loaded pin extends through awall of the latch arm support member, and the end of latch arm includesan array of apertures each configured to receive an end of the springloaded pin to maintain the latch arm at a desired depth within the latcharm support member selected from a plurality of depths for the end ofthe latch arm.
 7. The door mounting system of claim 1, furthercomprising a latch arm adjustably coupled with the first plate extendingfrom a middle portion thereof, the latch arm including a latchreceptacle to engage with a latch coupled to the door.
 8. The doormounting system of claim 1, wherein: the rack includes an additionalvertically-extending support spaced apart from the first pair ofvertically-extending supports, and the first plate includes anadjustable stiffener rail including a first end coupled thereto, thestiffener rail extending away from a second side of the first plate andhaving a second end coupled to the additional vertically-extendingsupport.
 9. A method of mounting a door to a rack comprising: fasteningopposite ends of a mount plate to corresponding vertically-extendingsupports of a pair of spaced apart vertically-extending supports of therack; adjusting a distance of a hinge arm relative to a first side ofthe plate; coupling the hinge arm to the plate such that the hinge armextends at an angle from the first side of the plate adjacent to thefirst end of said opposite ends, the hinge arm including a door pinreceptacle; and inserting a door pin into the door pin receptacle andinto a corresponding engagement mechanism coupled to the door to therebycouple the door to the rack via the plate.